TexTOM - X-ray texture tomography as a tool to enable, multi-scale, in-situ imaging of the enthesis, a biological hinge between bone and tendon

Introduction

Hierarchical structures are signature elements of many biological and technical materials. The orientational distribution of their crystalline constituents (the crystallographic texture) is important for their mechanical properties. Resolving the local structure and orientation spatially while keeping a large field of view is an unsolved problem.

Texture Tomography

I will solve this by introducing texture tomography, a new 3D x-ray diffraction imaging method, the core of the TexTOM project. It will enable the study of the enthesis, the biological connection between tendon and bone, and by in-situ deformation and micromechanical modelling, couple its hierarchical structure with the mechanical behaviour.

Methodology

I will use the brilliance gain of 4th generation synchrotrons to develop texture tomography as a tool to image complex crystallographic textures in 3D and overcome the spatial resolution barriers of current approaches.

1. I will develop the reconstruction approach for the crystallographic texture.
2. I will use it to image the whole enthesis structure with 100nm spatial resolution.
3. With high energy x-rays, I will image the enthesis structure during in-situ tensile deformation with µm resolution at several load steps.

The unique combination of 3D texture information and loading will allow building a micromechanical enthesis model.

Novelty and Impact

The novelty lies in the structural 3D characterization of the enthesis under deformation. This is enabled by the development of texture tomography to reconstruct the 3D textures, which will be useful for many other scientific problems.

I will build an accurate micromechanical enthesis model, which will shed light on the unknown load transfer mechanism in the enthesis on the nano- and crystal level.

Conclusion

The flexible, open-source approach of TexTOM will ensure adaptation for new users and scientific problems. 4th generation synchrotrons will propel texture tomography to the forefront of (bio)materials science, revolutionizing our study of crystallographic textures.